Bernardino Rivadavia

Bernardino Rivadavia (20 May 1780-2 September 1845) was the first President of the United Provinces of the Rio de la Plata from 8 February 1826 to 27 June 1827, preceding Vicente Lopez. He was a member of the Unitarios, and he was the first de facto President of Argentina.

Biography
Bernardino de la Trinidad Gonzalez Rivadavia was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina on 20 May 1780, the son of a wealthy Spanish lawyer. He left the Royal College of San Carlos without finishing his studies and served as a Spanish Amry lieutenant during the Napoleonic Wars, defending Buenos Aires from British invasions. On 22 May 1810, he voted for the deposition of the Viceroy in the May Revolution, and he became an important minister in the Buenos Aires government at the start of the Argentine War of Independence. In 1826, at the start of the Cisplatine War with Brazil, the General Congress quickly established the office of President of the United Provinces of the Rio de la Plata, and Rivadavia became the first President of Argentina, assuming power from the provincial governor Juan Gregorio de las Heras. However, he was strongly contested by his own Unitarios party and was forced to resign in 1827, and he retired to Spain and died there in 1845.